On a recent weekend trip to Maine, I wandered into an art gallery and was immediately drawn to a painting – an impressionistic tree by artist Andrea Darok. The piece, from her Standing Tall Collection, is titled Rachel Carson's Tree in honor of the environmentalist.
I've been trying to put my finger on what moved me so profoundly about it. Was it the deep blues of the trunk, as though its roots reached all the way to the ocean's depths? Or the white and golden flecks scattered through the leaves, like sunlight shimmering through the branches?
I couldn't leave it behind. Today it hangs in my office, where it reminds me every day of something I hadn't fully appreciated until I stood in front of it.
Over the years, when I've talked about Flex Financial Planning's evolution from a solo practice to a team-oriented firm, I've sometimes struggled to explain what that growth has really looked like. You see, we have not grown by continually adding more clients, so we haven't really become "bigger." Instead, we've grown by adding people – by putting down deeper roots. We've been digging deeper into what we do so that our advisors can dig deeper with our clients.
Rheagan joined Flex in 2020 as an administrative assistant and was recently promoted to Operations and Compliance Manager. She now oversees our operations team, including our newest full-time team member, Walia Ayers (Walia's bio), as well as our relationship with Remote Link Solutions. Walia brings more than 20 years of operations and compliance experience, and we are thrilled to have her on board. You can read more about our partnership with Remote Link Solutions here. (Remote Link Solutions)
In other exciting news, Harold recently sat for – and passed – the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® exam. Please join me in congratulating him on this important milestone. Harold already manages his own book of business through Flex while also working closely alongside me in serving many of our clients. It's been incredibly rewarding to watch him grow from the twenty-something who joined the firm in 2020 into the advisor he is today.
And finally, Rheagan may have already shared with some of you that she and her husband are expecting a baby boy in early October. Please join me in congratulating them on this wonderful news.
As I look around our firm today, I'm reminded that strong trees don't simply grow taller; they also grow deeper roots. That's the kind of growth we've been striving for at Flex Financial Planning. My hope is that each of you feels the strength of those roots through the team of people who are here to support you, not just today, but for many years to come.
Happy summer, everyone.